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2 Sheets-$heet 1.

(No Model.)

W. H. BAKER.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented June 1, 1880.

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Patented June 1, 1880.

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N- PETERS. PHOTO-Ll UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. BAKER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,165, dated June 1, 1880,

Application filed May 1, 1880 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BAKER, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms, of which the following is a description.

My improvement relates particularly to that class of breech-loadersknown as drop-down guns, in which the barrel is hinged to the frame and the front end drops down to open the breech. Its purposes are to obviate the strain upon the hinge-joint incident to the dropping of the barrels in opening the breech and to afford a simple and convenient means for attaching the fore end; and to these ends it consists in the application of a spring to the fore-end strap in such a way as to bear against a lug on the under side of the barrel, by which a longitudinal movement of the barrel and fore end relatively to each other is permitted, and which takes up the shock due to the dropping of the barrel.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this description, Figure 1 illustrates a side view of a gun embodying my invention, a part of the fore end being shown in section to illustrate the application of the spring. Fig. 2 is a detail; and Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal sections of so much of the arm as is necessary to show the application of my invention, both figures showing the barrels broken down to open the breech.

In the several figures, A denotes the frame, B the barrel, 0 the fore end, and D the foreend strap, which are all of the ordinary construction and require no special description. A curved or bent spring, a, is pivoted to the fore-end strap at 0, its free end extending forward against a lug, b, on the barrel. The spring is made of such length that when the parts are in position it will be slightly compressed, and its point of bearing on the lug I) being a little belowits pivot c, it exerts a pressure in a backward and upward direction from its bearing against the lug b, the upward pressure serving to hold the fore end in place against the barrel. This provides a ready and convenient means for attaching and detaching the fore end, since all that is necessary to attach it is to place its rear end in position against the end of the frame, place the end of the spring against the lug on the bar rel, and then press it to its place against the barrel. The operation is facilitated by turning the parts upside down, when the point of the spring will drop down through the opening in the strap into a position to adjust itself against the lug.

To remove the fore end from the barrel it is only necessary to place the finger in a cavity at its front end and pull it away from the barrel.

In the ordinary construction the jar and strain incident to the dropping of the barrels are sustained by the projection e at the front end of the frame, which projects up into a recess or cavity between the barrels. When the barrels are dropped the front face of the hingelug f comes in contact with the projection e, and the parts being rigid and unyielding, considerable strain ensues, which in time causes a looseness of the joint, which not only allows the parts to rattle, but impairs the efficiency of the arm.

By my construction the strain incident to the dropping of the barrels is taken up by the spring, which acts as a cushion and prevents the jar which would otherwise result.

When the barrels are dropped the front face of the hinge-lug brings up against the projection 6. Without the spring the movement of the barrels would be suddenly arrested. at this point; but with the use of the spring a further movement is permitted.

The point of the projection 0 serves as afulcrum upon which the barrels turn, and the lower part of the hinge-lug f is lifted slightly away from its seat in the frame, as shown in Fig. 4:, and this causes the barrel to move backward relatively to the fore end and the lug 1), bearing against the end of the spring a, compresses the latter. Then, when the movement of the barrels has been entirely arrested, the force of the spring causes a return movement of the barrels till the hinge-lug again seats itself in the frame against the hinge-pin.

I am aware that it is not new, broadly, to apply a spring between the fore end and the lug on the barrel but in all such cases of which I am aware a flat or coiled spring was used in such a manner that the end bearing against the lug had to slide into its seat, thereby causing great friction and consequent wear.

My construction consists in pivoting the spring so that its end can be adjusted to its seat before the parts are pressed together.

This avoids friction, and permits the adjustment of the parts by the mere compression of 5 the spring.

It is obvious that the spring may be pivoted to the barrel and bear against a lug on the fore end; and I consider such arrangement the equivalent of the arrangement shown and de- IO scribed.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, in a drop-down gun, of the fore-end strap, the lug on the under side of the barrel, and a pivoted spring between the 15 strap and lug, as shown and described.

2. In a drop-down gun, the combination of the barrel having the hinge-lug, the frame having the projection e at its front end, the foreend strap fitted to the end of the frame and to the under side of the barrel, and a spring 20 arranged between the strap and a lug on the barrels, as shown and described, for the purpose of relieving the gun of strain in dropping the barrel, as set forth.

WILLIAM H. BAKER.

Witnesses PETER BURNS, GEo. LIVERMORE. 

